Beyond the Veil
by Penthal
Summary: Sirius falls through the veil but Harry follows him. They end up in Middle Earth where a new journey awaits them.
1. Prologue

**So I decided to write a new fic and I didn't know whether I wanted to do Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, so I just decided to put the two together :D And yes, I know that this story has been done _loads_ of times, but I'm a bit obsessed with them at the moment :D**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>Harry watched as Sirius fell gracefully through the eerie curtain of the veil. He watched as the laughter died on his godfather's face, to be replaced with a look of shock, confusion filling his previously laughter-filled eyes. He could hear the harsh cackle of Bellatrix Lestrange coming from behind him, but then the noise stopped, he could hear nothing but the sound of his beating heart. Everything just seemd to stop. Harry's eyes were glued to the place where Sirius had just vanished. Where was he? Why didn't he come out?<p>

Something was obviously wrong, Sirius must have been injured. Harry knew he had to get to his godfather; he had just fallen, that was all. Harry tried to run towards the veil but could feel someone grabbing him by the shoulders, preventing him from reaching his godfather.

'No, Harry,' said a familiar voice. 'He's gone.' It was Remus. Harry didn't understand; why was Remus trying to stop him from saving Sirius? Harry struggled and managed to shake off Remus's grip on his shoulders. He ran towards the veil, ignoring the cries of his friends as they tried to stop him. Without looking back he ran straight through the swaying curtain, entering the unknown beyond.

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><p><strong>Okay, so I know it's ridiculously short but it <em>is<em> just the prologue...**


	2. The Void

**I decided to put up another chapter because the first one _was _ridiculously short...**

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><p>Harry didn't know where he was. There was no up, down, no right or left; there was nothing. Just the grey world that surrounded him, enclosing him in its icy grip. He tried to look for Sirius, but he could see no sign of him, just the grey. He called out Sirius's name but there was no response; only silence. He didn't know if he was moving or not, he couldn't tell, he just seemed to exist. He sighed, looking around at the swirling grey mist. Where was he? And more importantly, where was Sirius? He looked behind him to the veil he had just came through, but here was nothing there. It had vanished.<p>

It was just then that he heard a cry penetrating the silence, he could just make out the voice of Sirius but still could not see him. 'Sirius?' he called. There it was again; the answering cry, but closer this time! At least the voice had a direction; it was coming from behind him. He turned around, or at least he thought he did - it was hard to tell. There was a dark shape in the distance and it was getting closer. 'Over here!' Harry yelled. The shape got closer and closer, moving through the mist until before him stood his Godfather. 'Sirius!' exclaimed Harry, wrapping his arms around him.

'Harry! What are you doing here?' Sirius asked, hugging his godson tightly. 'How did you get here? Please tell me you did not follow me!'

'What did you expect me to do? Just leave you to die?' replied Harry. 'Besides, I didn't know that this was what was on the other side. Where are we anyway?'

'Honestly, Harry, I have no idea,' said Sirius, letting go of his godson. 'I have never heard of a place like this before. I'm as lost as you are.' Harry looked around nervously, trying to figure out where exactly he was.

'What are we going to do?' he asked quietly.

'We are going to try and find a way out of here,' said Sirius, staring out into the surrounding grey.

'If there is a way out,' Harry added.

'Well we aren't going to get anywhere by just standing here,' mumbled Sirius. 'Let's go.' The two wizards started walking through the mist, in what direction or to where, they did not know. It felt to Harry as though he were walking on solid ground, but looking down he could see nothing.

They had been walking for what felt like hours but they could not tell for sure. They had tried calling out for help, or even to see if there was anyone else there, but so far, nothing. 'Sirius, what if this is it? What if there is no way out?' asked Harry, voicing a concern that had been growing on his mind. Sirius looked down at his godson and gave him a reassuring smile, though Harry could see the despair in his eyes.

'We'll get out of here, Harry. James would kill me if he knew I got his son trapped in an endless void.' Harry chuckled despite the hopeless feeling that had settled on his heart. He stuck his hand in his pocket and drew out his wand.

'Know any spells that would be usefull in this kind of situation?' he asked, giving Sirius a mock-hopefull expression.

'None that I've heard of,' sighed Sirius. 'I guess we could try apparating...'

'Sirius that's a great idea! I can't believe we didn't think of it before!'

'You've never apparated before, have you?' asked Sirius, taking out his wand.

'No, but I'll be fine. I just want to get out of here.'

'Alright, hold on to my arm.' Harry grabbed hold of Sirius and closed his eyes in anticipation. Sirius turned on the spot but nothing happened. Harry opened his eyes slowly.

'What happened?' he asked.

'Nothing,' muttered Sirius. 'Absolutely nothing. Looks like that's not going to work.' He roughly shoved his wand back into his pocket. 'I don't think magic works in this place, Harry.'

Harry tried a number of spells with his wand but nothing happened. 'I guess you're right then,' he muttered. 'We're stuck.' Sirius said nothing. His haunted eyes looked tired as he ran his hand dejectedly through his hair.

'Let's just keep walking.'

A while later and they had both pretty much given up all hope. They had been walking for God knows how long and had got nowhere. Despite this though, they still walked, their footsteps making no sound as they stepped on the seemingly invisible ground. They felt no hunger or exhaustion though, which was strange, as it felt like they had been walking for days on end. Harry glanced up at Sirius, his eyes stared straight ahead but they seemed to be unfocused - his mind was obviously elsewhere.

Looking up, Harry could suddenly see a strange light coming from ahead. It looked like the sun shining through clouds except instead of clouds it was the strange grey mist. 'Sirius! Look!' Harry exclaimed.

'Huh?' replied Sirius, seemingly snapping out of his daydream.

'Ahead, Sirius - the light! We've got somewhere!'

Sirius's face split into a wide grin. Grabbing Harry's arm excitedly he said, 'We've made it, Harry! We've made it! I told you we'd make it!' Harry couldn't help but laugh along with his godfather as they both started to run towards the source of the light. They stopped in front of a huge arch which towered over their heads. The strange golden light was streaming through from the other side. 'Just fucking fantastique!' exclaimed Sirius. 'Another bloody arch! I wonder where we'll be off to next! Maybe it'll be a nice _golden_ mist next time, if we're lucky!'

Harry decided to ignore his frustrated godfather's sarcastic comment and started to examine the arch closely. It didn't _seem_ to be dangerous, not like the last one which had a definite ominous feel to it. 'We've got to try it, Sirius,' he sighed. 'It's not as if we have another choice, is it?'

'You're right. Sorry for being a dick, Harry. I'm supposed to be the responsible one here, not you.' Sirius looked back up at the arch, a thoughtful expression on his face. 'I guess we just gotta go through, then,' he sighed.

'Yup,' Harry agreed. 'Let's go.' Together they walked through the golden light, and crossed to the other side.

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><p><strong>Yep, I know what you're thinking - this one's not much longer than the last! <em>Buuut<em> I did put up two chapters... :D Hope it wasn't too bad. Reviews please :-)**


	3. An Unwelcome Addition

**I'm _back! _:-D I know it's been ages but life is crazy at the moment!**

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><p>Pain. That was all Harry could feel. His whole body ached as though someone had just spent the past day beating it with a large metal pole. His limbs felt heavy; it was as if they were made of lead. Groaning, he gently rolled onto his back. His eyes were still shut and he found even the small task of opening them to be extremely challenging.<p>

He could feel grass beneath him; it was still wet with dew and the smell of damp earth assaulted his nose. It then suddenly occured to him that he was not wearing any clothing. Snapping open his eyes Harry found himself lying in a small, grassy dale, trees surrounding him on all sides. Slowly and stiffly he managed to sit himself up and saw Sirius lying in the grass beside him, also devoid of any garments... He examined his body for any signs of injury, but, to his surprise, there was none.

'Sirius?' he said, minding to keep his voice down. 'Sirius?' His godfather gave a sudden groan and rubbed his eyes.

'Go away - I'm sleeping,' he mumbled, turning his face into the grass. This seemed to have some sort of affect as his eyes blinked open, surveying the blade of grass that was poking into his nose. 'What the-' He sat up and immediately regreted it as pain wracked through his limbs and torso, causing him to double over. Though, he straightened up once he realised that he wasn't wearing anything. He shifted his legs in order to cover up as much as possible.

'Harry?' he asked, giving his godson a very confused look. 'What's going on? Where the hell are we? And most importantly - where are our clothes?'

'I have no idea - I'm just as confused as you are, Sirius.'

'I would also like to know what is ''going on'',' came a deep voice coming from behind Harry. He whipped round and was confronted with an arrow directed at his head. The man holding the bow was tall, very tall, infact, and had shaggy dark hair coming to his shoulders. His face was stern and his keen grey eyes were boring into Harry's. Harry seemed not to be able to hold the gaze of this stranger, and instead his eyes fixed once more on the arrow pointed at him.

'What is the meaning of this?' the strange man asked, his voice demanding.

Sirius, who had finally seemed to snap out of his shock, said, 'Don't point that thing at my godson; we're not dangerous!' The man's eyes shifted around the grassy area as though checking for anything hidden. He seemed to come to the conclusion that they were harmless, and lowered his bow.

'Where do you hail from? Your accent and way of speech is not familiar to me.'

Harry looked worriedly at Sirius who said, 'We're from the UK. Why? Where is this place?'

'You are in Chetwood, just outside of Bree,' replied the man, who removed the pack from his back and started to rifle through it. 'I do not know this ''UK'' place you speak of, but I do know that you are a long way from it.' He pulled out a pair of trousers from his pack, followed by two shirts; one red, the other green. He threw them towards Harry and Sirius. 'Those are all I have; I did not expect to come across two naked men lying in Chetwood.'

Harry quickly pulled the red shirt over his head and reached for the trousers only to find that Sirius was already wearing them. 'What?' he asked innocently, raising his eyebrows. 'They'd be way too long on you.' Indeed, even Sirius had to roll them up at the bottoms. 'Besides, that shirt practically goes down to your knees.'

Harry merely sighed; he was far too tired and confused to care all that much that he was wearing a shirt that seemed more like a dress on him.

'What are your names?' asked the man, sitting down in front of them.

'I'm Sirius Black and this is Harry Potter. Who're you?' Sirius's eyes were narrowed in suspicion. It was clear to Harry that his godfather did not trust this man. And Harry did not blame him; the tall dark stranger had a very intimidating look about him. Added to that was the fact that Harry could see two mean-looking daggers and a sword strapped to his belt. _Let's not forget about the bow and that arrow that just a few minutes ago was pointed at my face,_ Harry mused.

Strider looked at each of them closely; Harry could feel a shiver run down his spine; those grey eyes appeared to be gazing into his soul, he felt even more naked now than when he had been completely devoid of any clothing.

'You may call me Strider,' the man said eventually.

'Strider? That's a pretty weird name,' snorted Sirius.

Strider looked sharply at Sirius. 'I find the name ''Sirius'' to be extremely unusual, though you do not find me questioning it.'

'Right - sorry,' muttered Sirius, looking to the ground. Harry thought this very strange behaviour for Sirius; he was never one to back down. Sirius soon set things right again, however, by saying, 'Wait just a second! You can't just look at me with those freaky eyes of yours and make me feel inferior! Now I want to know what's going on! Who the hell are you? And where is this place?' Sirius was glaring at Strider who seemed to not be affected by Sirius's harsh tone in the slightest, and merely stared back at him calmly.

'I apologise if I have made you feel in any way inferior - it was not my intention to do so. As for myself, I am a Ranger of the North; and as such, it is in my nature to be wary of strangers I meet in the wild, particularly when they are lying in a wooded glade completely naked,' he added with a wry smile. Harry shifted uncomfortably, making sure that the overly-large shirt was covering everything. 'You are currently in Middle Earth, or Arda, as it is known to some.'

Harry and Sirius once again exchanged worried glances; some powerful magic was clearly at work here, how else would they have been transported to a completely different world? 'We're from a place called Earth,' said Harry, speaking for the first time since Strider's arrival; mainly because he did not want the rather scary stranger's attention fixed on him. 'We've never heard of Middle Earth before.'

Strider sat up straighter and gave Harry an odd look. 'What are you saying? You come from a different world?'

'Seems that way,' Sirius mumbled. 'You see, me and Harry are wizards from the world we come from.' Strider looked startled by this information. 'We-' Strider held up his hand, cutting him off.

'It would be wise not to say any more for now. We do not know who could be listening.' Strider looked around the surrounding trees which seemed pretty innocent to Harry. The man was clearly ridiculously paranoid... 'I think it would be best if I took you to Imladris; Gandalf and Lord Elrond should know of this.'

'Wait- what? We're going with you?' exclaimed Sirius. Harry found himself agreeing with his godfather's tone; he really didn't find the idea of traipsing off into God knows where, with a man who, only ten minutes ago, was preparing to shoot him in the head with an arrow.

'I know that it is not ideal, but I think it would be for the best. I can think of no one else who would be able to help you in your current situation. I realise that I may not come across as the most trustworthy person,' at this he looked to Harry, almost as though he knew what was going through his head, 'but you could come across far worse in this land.' Strider's voice was grim, his eyes hard.

'I don't think we have much choice, Harry,' muttered Sirius, whose voice told him that he obviously was not too happy with the situation.

'Good,' nodded Strider. He stood up suddenly. 'Come. We will go to Bree; we can find you some clothes.' Harry got up with Sirius, and together they followed Strider through the trees.

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><p><strong>Once again a very short chapter. Sorry :( Though to be fair it normally takes me a couple of days to do a chapter and I just whipped this one up tonight :-D That's pretty impressive for me. Ah yes, nearly forgot; there has been mentions of slash... I've never written any slash before but I'm willing to give it a go if you readers want it. Only problem is I would have no idea where to start when it comes to pairing, so if you have any requests I would really be gratefull if you would let me know. I will take the majority vote. That also includes whether or not there <em>will<em> be any slash.**


	4. Bree

**I'm back! Yay! Though I'm afraid I have some bad news... I know that a lot of you requested slash, and I was going to do it, until an actual plot line popped into my head... Unfortunately, this plot line does not include slash, or any romance for that matter. I'm really sorry about that. Hope you can forgive me. Another apology: this chapter is kind of shit. It's really only a filler so it's pretty boring, but I know it's been ages and I wanted to send something out. Again, sorry...**

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><p>The walk to Bree was a short one, and Harry would have even found it quite enjoyable if not for the small detail of the dress-like shirt he was wearing; indeed, on numerous occasions he found himself having to walk with his arms stuck firmly to his sides in order to prevent any flashing on his part, something which Sirius found thoroughly amusing. They managed to arrive in Bree when the afternoon was still young and, for this, Strider was extremely grateful, as he did not wish to spend the night in the town.<p>

When Harry first entered Bree he was immediately reminded of Hogsmeade, though a much more run-down and bleak version. It soon became obvious to him that the main difference was the people. In Hogsmeade it was not possible to walk down a street without being greeted cheerily, whether by a wave and hello, or simply just a good-natured smile.

Here in Bree, though, things were not so pleasant. The three had only just made it to the gate when they had been stopped by the gatekeeper. He was a short, stocky man, as were all the native Bree men, whose mean little eyes had narrowed in suspicion as soon as he had spotted them. 'Where do you think you're going, Ranger?' he asked snidely. 'And who are these two? Finally got yerself a lady friend, eh, Strider?' The man eyed Harry's 'dress' with a smug look on his pudgy face. 'Listen here-' he said sharply, pointing his finger at Strider, 'Bob may let _'your kind'_ in through this here gate, but I ain't gonna let scum like you come in here and dirty this town.'

Strider's face had remained impassive throughout the tirade but his eyes had taken on a dangerous glint which Harry did not miss, and neither, it seemed, did the gatekeeper. 'We all know that you are going to let us through, Ned, as you have done the past two times after you have tried to deny me. So why don't you stop wasting our time, and your's, and let us pass.' It was not a question; but a statement. All of Ned's previous bravado was seemingly put on for show, as he nodded meekly and stepped out of the way. Though not before glaring daggers at Strider.

'Mind who you've taken up with, there,' he sneered, turning to Harry and Sirius. 'You don't want to be seen with the likes of him.'

'Let's go, Harry,' Sirius muttered, following Strider into the town.

As Harry passed through the narrow, cobbled streets he couldn't help but notice that many people were treating them with much the same aversion as the gatekeeper had. People were doing their best to avoid getting too close to them, and they were greeted with the same sly, suspicious glances.

'So, what kind of guy do you think we've taken up with?' Sirius asked Harry, while keeping his eyes fixed on Strider who was walking ahead. 'I mean, he's obviously a pretty nasty character, else the whole town wouldn't be going out of their way to avoid him.'

'I don't know...' Harry replied unsurely. 'I think that people have just got the wrong impression of him.' Sirius looked at him confusedly. 'It's like with me and the Daily Prophet: they've been spreading lies about me all year, and because of that, most wizards treat me exactly like this.'

Sirius gave Harry an odd look before saying: 'You're a pretty wise kid, Harry. And I know I say this all the time; but you remind me so much of your parents. Though, I'm starting to think that there's a lot more Lily in you than there is James. She, too, always tried to see the good in everyone.' Sirius's gaunt face broke into a proud smile, briefly giving Harry a glimpse of the man he had been before Azkaban.

Strider lead them away from the main road, following a series of narrow, twisting paths until, at last, the crooked road opened up into a dark, unsettling courtyard. A large fountain stood in the centre; its once beautifully sculptured design had crumpled into ruin. The smell of burning insence quickly engulfed Harry. The source of the acrid smell was coming from a shop straight in front of him which was owner to a number of strange and disturbing items.

Hanging from the window frame and doorway were numerous crudely-made windchimes; old, rotting bones dangling from the ends of each piece of string. The sound of the bones clunking together in the afternoon breeze penetrated the otherwise deathly silence of the stone courtyard.

Displayed in the window Harry could see a selection of mean-looking daggers, each with a horridly sharp, curved blade. The dim light of the sun glinted off of the serrated edges which ran their length down into the handles made from yellowing bone. And fitting in with the many other bones was the skull of a stag, standing proudly in the centre of the disturbing display.

The dark little shop grimly reminded Harry of Diagon Alley, and looking around the deserted courtyard, that was definitely where Harry felt he was. Indeed, looking over at Sirius, whose face was drawn in disgust, Harry could tell that his godfather was thinking along the same lines.

Suddenly, a phlegmy chuckle, soon followed up by a cough, issued from within the dark, open doorway of the shop. 'Yer boys don't seem to like my shop too much, Strider.' Peering into the gloom Harry could just make out a pair of beady, black eyes staring straight at him. 'What's wrong, boys? Never seen a couple o' skulls before, eh?'

Strider's eyes closed wearily, almost as if he was bracing himself. 'Afternoon, Hazel. We are just passing through. We did not mean to disturb you.' Another deep, phlegmy chuckle followed this and the creaking sound of something heavy being lifted from an old wooden chair came from inside. A hagard old woman appeared on the doorstep of the shop. Her ancient face was folded into countless creases and lines, and a pair of tiny eyes just barely looked out from within their sunken sockets. Thin lips were drawn in a tight sneer, revealing rotted brown teeth protruding from blackened gums.

Eyes which had previously been closely examining Harry suddenly snapped back to Strider. 'You found me any more bones yet?'

'Sorry, Hazel. Not this time.' Strider made to leave but a mottled, bony hand latched itself onto his arm. Long, crusty, grey nails dug themselves into his flesh. Strider automatically reached for the dagger at his waist but then seemed to think better of it as he let his hand fall to his side.

'Remember; I'll pay you handsomely!'

Strider shook his head slowly all the while trying to subtly free his arm from Hazel's grip. 'I have nothing for you, Hazel. I'm sorry.'

The old woman visciously retracted her claw-like nails from Strider's arm. 'Well what use are you then, eh? You know I don't like to be disturbed unless you've got business for me! Or has all that dirt you carry around with you got itself stuck between yer ears?'

'Again, I apologise, Hazel. I'm only here to see Bertie today.'

Hazel once again ran her sharp pair of eyes over Harry. 'That be for yer boys, I suppose?' She suddenely let out a wicked cackle which soon had her bent over and coughing into her withered hands. 'What you doin' going around with two young men, eh, Strider?' she asked between raspy laughs. 'Found yerself some friends, eh?'

'Indeed,' muttered Strider impatiently, as he drew up his sleeve to inspect his arm for damage. 'We really must be leaving now, Hazel,' he said, at last, pulling his sleeves down over the angry, red marks which had been pierced into his skin.

Hazel's raspy laugh vanished as quickly as it had came, the sound of metal being drawn repeatedly across a rock was gone, to be replaced with the eerie silence of the courtyard. 'Fine!' she snapped harshly, her beady eyes glaring out from within their dark sockets. 'Fine! Get out of here, you worthless piece of scum! I don't need you, or yer business! You here me?' Large, angry veins bulged out from her creased forehead and her lipless mouth was drawn in a viscious snarl. Gnarly hands clutched the sides of the doorframe as if they were the only things holding her up. She reminded Harry of a rabid dog, and he quickly stepped back to stand beside Sirius.

Strider merely gave her a look of pity before turning and walking from her shop. Harry and Sirius were quick to follow; leaving behind the snarling woman. 'Don't you dare show yer face here again, Longshanks! You here me? Never again!' The heavy sound of a door slamming could be heard from behind them.

'She says the same thing everytime,' Strider sighed.

'What's wrong with her?' Harry asked, trying to keep up with the Ranger's fast pace.

'She's old,' replied Strider grimly.

Harry could hear Sirius mutter behind him, 'Reminds me of my dear old mum.'

Strider led them down to a battered-looking little shop which was tucked away in the corner of the desolate courtyard. Its brown-painted walls were peeling and flaking off and the small window was bordered up from the inside. A rusty old sign swung from over the doorframe. It read: ''Barliman's Supplies'' in faded white paint.

Strider pushed open the rusty door and the tinkling of a bell sounded. Harry and Sirius followed Strider into the dimly-lit room, a cobweb-covered gas lamp providing the only source of light. The floor of the small room was covered in large piles of clothes which seemed to have no order to them whatsoever. All types of shoes, ranging from sandals to heavy leather boots, were littered across the floor.

The sound of shuffling feet could be heard coming from another room, and a short, balding man entered from the door behind the counter. 'Strider,' he nodded in greeting. His voice was low and rough and mirrored the seriousness that was set in his deep, brown eyes. 'Haven't seen you in a while. How're things?'

'Same as always, Bertie,' Strider answered absentmindedly, surveying the contents of the surrounding room. Strider's eyes snapped back to the shopkeeper, Bertie. 'How are things here?'

'Oh, you know how it goes: my business crumples to ruin while Barliman's only gets better,' Bertie replied bitterly. 'If I had been born but fifteen minutes earlier the Pony would've been mine. But such is life.' He sighed and rubbed a meaty hand across his forehead. 'So what can I do for you today, Strider? Though I don't really think I need to ask,' he added, looking over at Harry and Sirius with a smirk.

'You guessed right, Bertie. These two need to be clothed,' Strider said, taking a seat on an armchair which was overrun with clothes in the corner.

'That'll be no problem. Just need to get some measurements first.' Bertie retrieved a long tape measure from his desk drawer and then proceeded to measure the two wizards. Strider, meanwhile, had found a battered old book on the floor beside him and was absentmindedly flicking through its worn pages.

'Both a bit on the skinny side, aren't yeh?'

'Hmm,' Harry agreed, while Sirius glared at the portly shopkeeper.

'Right, so what'll yeh be needing then?'

'Er...' Sirius looked over at Strider who looked up from his book.

'They'll be needing a pair of boots each. Good boots,' he added firmly. 'We have a lot of walking ahead of us. Also, a cloak each, as well as a shirt and a pair of breeches for the shorter one.'

'Shorter one?' Sirius exclaimed, stepping up to defend his godson. 'He has a name, you know!'

'I am well aware that he has a name, Sirius,' replied Strider calmly, continuing to flick through the book. 'However, as Bertie is not aware as to what that name is I decided to help him out a little. I merely opted to take a, shall we say, ''shortcut''?' Strider turned his cool grey eyes on Harry. 'I apologize if I have offended you, Harry. That was not my intention.' He looked back down at his book once more, but Harry could have sworn he saw the tiniest hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Sirius glared at the man furiously. His hands were clenched at his sides and he looked ready to punch the Ranger in the face. The fact that Strider was continuing to calmly flick through the pages only seemed to infuriate him more.

'I'd leave it if I were you,' muttered Bertie to Sirius. 'C'mon; let's get you two sorted.'

One hour later and Harry was finally wearing proper clothes. His new red shirt and trousers fit him perfectly, and the leather boots were surprisingly comfortable. Sirius, too, had fallen in love with his new set, claiming that he had always had a thing for tight, black leather.

Bertie was situated behind the counter counting up the cost on his small piece of paper. 'Right, Strider. That's going to cost you fifteen sliver pieces. Strider began to rummage around in the many inner pockets of his coat, pulling out everything from scraps of paper to a bundle of string. At last he seemed to find what he was looking for, as he pulled out a cloth pouch and emptied its contents on the table.

Silver and bronze coins clattered onto the table which Strider quickly began to sort. He counted out eight silver coins from the pile and the rest were bronze. Harry did not know this strange new world's currency, but it was pretty clear to him that Strider was not going to have enough. It seemed that the Ranger knew this too, as he started to pat down his coat in search of more money. 'I'm afraid that's all I've got, Bertie,' he said, finally giving up his search.

Bertie sighed and began to count the bronze coins. 'That's nine silver and twenty bronze you have there. I can see that you're not going to be able to pay up this time, Strider,' he said slowly. 'Right, I'm going to let you off for now because I trust you. But I still expect you to pay me.'

'I can't thank you enough, Bertie,' Strider sighed, stuffing the string and paper back into his pockets. 'I will pay you back as soon as I am able.'

Bertie scraped the money into his hands. 'You're just lucky I'm not as prejudiced as the rest of this town.'

'Don't I know it.'

As soon as they had finished Strider led them away from the creepy courtyard and out of Bree town altogether. Harry actually found himself pleased to be shot of the town; he got enough disgusted looks thrown at him back at Hogwarts. As night began to approach Strider found them a safe resting place, and they set up camp. Harry was far too exhuasted from the extremely unusual day to even give a second thought to the fact that he was sleeping outside in nothing but the clothes on his back, in a strange new world and with a man he had only met that very same morning. Added to that was the fact that every other person they had met that day seemed to regard this stranger as a criminal, and it did not help that his godfather seemed to share these feelings of hatred for the man.

But Harry was far too tired to think on any of this, and he closed his exhausted eyes, the dark form of Strider sitting in the dying light, keeping gaurd, the last thing he saw before he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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><p><strong>I know, I hate fillers too. But we just have to get past them, there's no avoiding them. So, I'm afraid it's that time of year again: exam season. Anyone reading this who still goes to school will understand. Unfortunately that means that I will unlikely be updating until late June when everything's finished and I finally have some free time. I know this is a pretty shitty place to leave things but I wanted to give you something seeing as I'll be gone for ages. Anyways, I'd really appreciate reviews. And thanks to all those who have already done so! Really appreciate it, guys! :-D<strong>


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